


Missed

by iamjasonssmirkingrevenge (mizzykitty)



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-02
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-27 09:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13245438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mizzykitty/pseuds/iamjasonssmirkingrevenge
Summary: Dick and Jason are moving forward with their lives and their relationship, but once in awhile, the past throws them for a loop.





	Missed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [redbelles](https://archiveofourown.org/users/redbelles/gifts).



> Sorry for the delay in posting this, but I really hope you like it! I've got the last chapter coming soon!

_“Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald_

 

“What do you even need all this shit for?” Jason griped as he picked through one of Dick’s old boxes from the back of his spare room. “Just throw it out!”

“I can’t throw it out, Jason. It’s important to me,” Dick said.

“Really? This is important to you?” Jason said, holding an inflatable pink flamingo aloft. Much of the air had leaked out of it, and it looked sad and limp, its once bright pink surface scuffed and dingy with dust.

“Aww, Pinky!” Dick said, taking it out of Jason’s hands and wiping at it with an equally dingy cloth. “We got these at Donna’s bachelorette party in Vegas. There was this-”

“You went to a bachelorette party?” Jason said. “Why am I not surprised?”

Dick shot him a toothy grin and waggled the limp flamingo around. “It was wilder than some bachelor parties I’ve been to.”

Jason snorted. “I don’t doubt it. What about this old answering machine?” he said, digging it out of the dusty box. “You can’t tell me you still need this. You don’t even have a landline anymore. Nobody does.”

Dick grabbed it out of his hand before he could pitch it into the trash. “Hey, don’t! We might need it in the new place.”

“We won't,” Jason huffed in exasperation. 

“Well then, I could give it to a charity shop or something.”

“Nobody wants your ancient answering machine, Dick,” Jason said. “You know how I know? Because it’s not 1983.”

“You never know. Someone might want it. I just have to check that it still works.” Dick dusted it off and got up to find a spare outlet – or at least something he could unplug to plug the machine in. 

Jason rolled his eyes. “God, you are such a hoarder. Fine, have fun with that. I’m gonna go pick up some lunch from the deli on the corner. You want anything?”

“Ooo, yeah! Get me the works, on the everything bagel, some chips, and a large coke,” Dick said. 

“Right.” Jason repeated the order. “Anything else?”

“Oh, and a brownie. Their brownies are the best! I’m so gonna miss them when we’re in Gotham,” Dick said.

“Brownie. Fine,” Jason said curtly. 

“Thanks, Jay!” Dick said. Jason merely grunted at him before he shrugged on his leather jacket and left the house. 

Dick knew Jason was likely grumpy about how long this was taking. But…it was hard. Dick had lived in his Bludhaven apartment for years. It was the first and only place he had ever had that was just his, and he took his first steps into independent adulthood here. He knew it was a crappy apartment in one of the seedier parts of Bludhaven, but it didn’t matter. To him, it was home, and leaving it was harder than he had expected. But, he understood how Jason felt. He was anxious to start their lives together too. He just hoped his nostalgic mood wasn’t being perceived as reluctance, because that was the last thing in the world he was feeling. When he thought about Jason, it always brought a smile to his face, no matter where he was or what he was doing. It still caught him off guard sometimes, how they had ended up here. If someone had told him as little as three years ago that he and Jason would get together, would someday be moving in together like any other couple, he would have laughed in their face. After everything that happened between them, all the fights, the wounds they’d torn into each other, both physical and emotional, to end up in such a happy, contented place was nothing short of a miracle. That wasn’t to say it was easy. They both had their sharp edges still, and sometimes something would trigger one of them, and an old fight would rise like a phoenix from the ashes to consume them. But somehow, they managed to get through it, and although reopening old wounds was painful, sometimes it actually allowed them to heal. Well, so far, anyway.

“Aha!” he exclaimed as he reached down to unplug a lamp, and plugged in the answering machine. “Here we go.”

The machine beeped and clicked in an odd, arrhythmic way that almost certainly meant it was broken. But after a few seconds, it settled down, and when Dick pressed the play button, a stilted electronic voice blared out “You have. ELEVEN. new. messages.” Then it beeped very loudly and clicked.

Dick laughed. Eleven messages? From who? He couldn’t even remember the last time he used this thing, let alone the last time anyone actually called him on his landline.

_*Message one, Thursday, March 4th. BEEEEP*_

_“Hey Dick, it’s Jason…Jason Todd. You said to call so…this is me calling. Call me when you get this. You know the number.”_

_*click*_

Dick gasped, but before he could react, the next message started playing.

_*Message two, Sunday, March 7th. BEEEEP*_

_“Hey, it’s Jason again. It’s been a couple days so…yeah. Things’ve been a bit tense around here lately, if you know what I mean, so…call me when you get this.”_

_*click*_

_*Message three, Sunday, March 14th. BEEEEP*_

_“Yo Dickhead, it’s me again. I checked with Alf and this is definitely your number. What the fuck, man? Why would you give me your number and then ghost me?_

_What’s wrong with you batfreaks anyway?”_

_*click*_

_*Message four, Saturday, March 20th. BEEEEP*_

_“Hi Dick, it’s Clancy. I’m not sure if you’re picking up your messages, but I didn’t know how else to contact you. Someone came by this morning looking for you, said he was your brother? I didn’t know you had a brother, but he did look a bit like you, I suppose. I told him that you were away on business. He left after that. Just thought I’d let you know. Oh, and I’ve been keeping your mail for you like you asked. I know you’ve been busy, but call me if you get a chance; it’d be nice to catch up.”_

_*click*_

_*Message five, Sunday , March 21st. BEEEEP*_

_“Hey, it’s me again. I stopped by your place yesterday. Your landlady’s somethin’ else – hope you were hittin’ that. She told me you skipped town. Guess you really are gone for good. Anyway I ah…forget what I said, all right? I guess you’re just busy saving the universe or whatever. See you when I see you, Grayson.”_

_*click*_

Dick pressed pause to try to halt the message playback because he really needed a minute to process this, but the machine continued to click and within seconds, the next message started to play. 

_*Message six, Wednesday, July 10th. BEEEEP*_

_“Hey Dickface, guess what? I’m drunk! Hah! Finally figured out where he keeps the good stuff. I gotta say, this shit’s pretty swank, not like the cheap shit my old man used to drink. Listen, I know you’re not there, and you’ll probably never listen to these stupid messages, but god, I just…I wish you’d been there tonight. He was just so fucking…him, you know? *sigh* Maybe you don’t know. I bet it was different for you, huh? I bet you did eeeverything right, didn’t you? Always second best. Never be good enough, or smart enough, or…anything enough. Just once…wish…he'd…look at me…………………………………………………………………”_

_*click*_

“Oh, Jay,” Dick breathed as tears pricked his eyes. 

_*Message seven, Friday, July 10th. BEEEEP*_

_“Hey, its Jason again. Sorry about that last message. We had this big blow out over...job stuff, and I just…old habits, you know? My old man used to deal with shit that way. I don't want to be that guy, but I just…I don't know what to do anymore. Things’ve been so weird, and not just since the fight. They’ve been this way for awhile now and...I don’t know anymore. I wish it could be like it used to be, you know? But I’m not a little kid anymore, and he can’t keep treating me like I am. I mean, at some point, he’s gotta trust me, right? Haven’t I earned that by now? *sigh* I don’t even know why I’m telling all this to a machine. I guess it feels good to talk to someone, even if you’re not really there. That probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, huh? Anyway, if you get this...oh fuck it.”_

_*click*_

_*Message eight, Tuesday, August 15th. BEEEEP*_

_“This is getting weird, huh? But…I dunno, man. Who else am I gonna talk to about this stuff? Seriously, no one else gets it. *lengthy silence* So uh….you know how my mom died a few years back? *pause* Well, turns out she wasn't my real mom. I mean, of course she was my real mom, but I mean like, my bio mom. That's crazy, right? Turns out my bio mom (if it really is her) is alive, and I got this lead on where she might be. Don't tell Bats, but I'm gonna try to find her. I know it's a long shot, like even if I could find her, would she really want to see me? I mean, she ran away for a reason. Not that I blame her, to be honest. But I'm probably getting way ahead of myself. For all I know, she might not even exist. But…well, I gotta try, don’t I? Wish me luck, Grayson.”_

_*click*_

“Oh god, Jay, don’t!” Dick said, his fingers twitching uselessly an inch above the answering machine as though he could actually reach through time and stop Jason from leaving all those years ago.

_*Message nine, Saturday, August 19th. BEEEEP*_

_“Master Dick, if you’re there, please pick up. Master Jason disappeared some nights ago, and I’ve been trying to locate him without much success. I’ve been going through our phone records and it appears that someone has been having some rather lengthy conversations with you, one of them quite recently. As I haven’t spoken with you in a rather disappointingly long time, and I know that Master Bruce is not much of a telephone conversationalist, I would assume that you’ve been in contact with Master Jason. If you know his whereabouts, can you please ring me straight away? This is only for my own peace of mind – I will keep the information in strict confidence if that is your wish. Speak soon, I hope.”_

_*click*_

Dick raised a shaking hand to cover his mouth as dread coiled in the pit of his stomach, but the relentless messages kept on rolling.

_*Message ten, Monday, August 21st. BEEEEP*_

_“Dick, it’s Bruce. Why haven’t you returned Alfred’s call? However you may feel about me, it’s unacceptable to ignore him like this. I know you’re angry that I gave Robin away, but you’re not a child anymore. You’re a grown man - don’t you think it’s time you acted like one? Now I don’t know what game you’re playing here, but we know you’ve been talking to Jason – phone records don’t lie. If you know where he is, you need to tell me. Call me immediately.”_

_*Message eleven, Thursday, August 24th. BEEEEP*_

_“Dick!! How dare you ignore me? You may not be in your apartment, but I know you’re picking up calls at this number. I’m done with this petulant bullshit, you hear me? This is not a game - Jason has been missing for over a week. You better not be harbouring him just to spite me, or I promise you, you will both regret it. You tell me where is right now, because if something happens to him, it will be your fault, do you understand me? It will be YOUR fault and I will NEVER forgive you!”_

_*click*_

_*END of messages.*_

Dick stared at the machine as shockwaves of guilt and grief rolled through him. Tears tracked silently down his cheeks to drip onto his t-shirt. Bruce was right. It was his fault. Forget Bruce – he’d never be able to forgive _himself._


End file.
